View Full Version : Name two of your absolute favorite screenplays.
Pilote
06-11-2009, 11:07 AM
Since we're all aspiring screenwriters here I thought it might be interesting to name two films which represent the best, in our own personal opinion, of what great screenwriting should aspire to be.
When selecting and naming your films I want you to think about character development, dialogue, pacing, atmosphere, casting etc...of course all these "edifices" bolster the movie but without a great screenplay to build on,all of the above only matters to a limited degree.
It's also important to think about whether there may have been any part of the script which warranted being cut or trimmed a little. If the answer is yes then it's not a perfect script.
Here are my two for now. I concentrated on American movies. I think it should be a separate thread for foreign movies.
Dangerous Liaisons - Screenplay, Christopher Hampton
Director, Stephen Frears
This would probably be my desert island movie, the dialogue never loses its zing and the actors particularly the two leads were admirably cast. Yes even Keanu Reeves did a passable job. There's not one single frame I would cut. I loved the novel and this is a superlative adaptation.
L.A. Confidential - Screenplay, Brian Helgeland
Director, Curtis Hanson
Again a superior adaptation, very very lean, no extra fat whatsoever, nothing to cut or add.
I know it's weird that I've selected two adaptations rather than original works. It's not a natural bias, that's just the way it worked out.
aspiringwriter
06-11-2009, 11:24 AM
The Breakfast Club is one of my favorites that comes to mind!!! Good pacing, dialogue, ect... and probably The Funhouse sure it's cheesy but hey :) To me it's a good flick.
Samantha's_Song
06-11-2009, 01:53 PM
I really like reading the screenplays of my favourite films, so here are a few that I enjoyed the most.
Awakenings
Goodfellas.
Casino.
Ronin.
The usual suspects.
Judsia
06-11-2009, 07:05 PM
I don't know if I could name just 2....So here is my top 4 :)
The Shawshank Redemption, Shakespeare in Love, A Few Good Men, Quills.
It would probably be called terrible by today's Spec standards, but I teared up during moments of Harlan Ellison's iRobot script. After that, it's hard picking a second.
Cybernaught
06-11-2009, 10:43 PM
Pulp Fiction & The Departed.
killbox
06-11-2009, 11:06 PM
Brigands of Rattleborge by S. Craig Zahler. So much for the "rules of screenwriting". This script breaks them all and you still can't get over how good it is.
Galahad by Ryan J. Condal. This script just connects on all the levels and puts a very new spin on a very old topic.
Pilote
06-12-2009, 07:43 AM
Pulp Fiction & The Departed.
I have the book format of the screenplay for Pulp fiction. One thing I have noticed is how long the dialogue is, on some pages it's the whole length of the page. As writers we're always worried about writing too many words but obviously it did not worry Tarantino one bit. Of course it is his best work. I don't think he's ever come close to duplicating that. I haven't seen his latest movie but the reviews from Cannes were comme-ci, comme-ca.
Streetcar Named Desire
Requiem for a Dream
RainbowDragon
06-12-2009, 09:48 AM
I agree with many of the above.
Two great ones that come to mind first for me:
Moulin Rouge for its layers upon layers of complexity what with the play within the movie, the character development, pacing and of course the execution to film was near-perfect.
And The Princess Bride because hey, it's The Princess Bride!
Cybernaught
06-12-2009, 09:52 AM
I have the book format of the screenplay for Pulp fiction. One thing I have noticed is how long the dialogue is, on some pages it's the whole length of the page. As writers we're always worried about writing too many words but obviously it did not worry Tarantino one bit. Of course it is his best work. I don't think he's ever come close to duplicating that. I haven't seen his latest movie but the reviews from Cannes were comme-ci, comme-ca.
Well, Kill Bill is a great movie, but Pulp Fiction was still a better screenplay IMO. True Romance gets overlooked a lot too, probably because he didn't direct it himself. But it still resonates of Tarantino all throughout. Can't wait for Inglorious Basterds.
scriptwriter74
06-12-2009, 07:47 PM
The Sixth Sense and American Beauty
Doomie
06-13-2009, 06:10 AM
I'd have to say Pulp Fiction and The Usual Suspects.
Pilote
06-13-2009, 08:37 AM
It's really interesting reading everybody's favorite choices. It makes me want to go out and rent some of those movies
again. Too bad so much crap gets made into films, we should do one on the worst screenplays out there and unfortunately there are far too many to chose from.
Doomie
06-16-2009, 06:59 AM
Well, from what I've been told, the movie Plan 9 from Outter Space is the best-worst movie of all. It's really interesting reading everybody's favorite choices. It makes me want to go out and rent some of those movies
again. Too bad so much crap gets made into films, we should do one on the worst screenplays out there and unfortunately there are far too many to chose from.
Ronin, Jackie Brown and The Matrix. Fun to read even if you don't read screenplays for fun.
ricetalks
06-18-2009, 06:51 AM
Chinatown. Come on. Chinatown. And Cool Hand Luke.
sunday morning
06-18-2009, 06:59 AM
(I'll second) The Sixth Sense
and
Million Dollar Baby
ysl21
06-18-2009, 02:18 PM
Nobody mentioned Fight Club
DavidZahir
06-18-2009, 06:52 PM
The Singing Detective (the miniseries, actually) and Love Actually.
Pilote
06-20-2009, 08:51 AM
Two of my favorites in a genre that is extremely difficult to write successfully for.
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
and the masterpiece of understated humor
Groundhog Day. If I could write something like Groundhog Day I would be happy if I never wrote anything else.
Samantha's_Song
06-20-2009, 01:26 PM
There's mentions for some great film's screenplays on here, guess what I'll be looking at when I log off AW this morning.
After the last time I was on this posting, I went looking for the screenplay for The day of the Jackal, one of my most favourite films, ever. I couldn't find it anywhere, not unless I wanted to pay about £12.00 for it. Sod that, I bought the actual book, years ago, for half that price! I would love the screenplay, but if I can read them for films that have only just come out, and for nothing, I won't pay that for a thirty year old film's script.
Hillgate
06-20-2009, 10:50 PM
Chinatown
Bad Santa
Coverage and Coffee
06-23-2009, 09:52 PM
Little Miss Sunshine is an all time fav.
Recently read and really enjoyed Passengers.
BigWords
06-24-2009, 02:23 AM
Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid or Casablanca. Those are classic scripts.
inkymonk
06-24-2009, 03:29 AM
Chinatown and Dinner At Eight though Network should be squeezed in there someplace.
Jim McLain
07-23-2009, 04:01 PM
The Philadelphia Story and Casablanca. Oh and for best title "Big Jim McLain" with John Wayne and Nancy Davis. Truely the film sucked wind but the name . . . Oh what a name!
aceinc1
07-24-2009, 10:23 PM
apocalypse now and the sixth sense
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The Dark Knight
Forbidden Snowflake
07-25-2009, 05:59 AM
Fight Club
Kill Bill (brilliance)
itdrivesus
07-31-2009, 03:27 AM
I enjoyed "Adaptation" (Charlie Kaufman) immensely, although I can easily see why anyone other (sane) person wouldn't.
I'd like to say "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," but the screenplay, which was more than 160 pages, was more cumbersome than the movie itself.
Instead, my number two, off the top of my head, would be "In Bruges" by Martin McDonagh. It's a phenomenally dark comedy.
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